W: Two Worlds or W is a South Korean television series that premiered in 2016 and stars Lee Jong-suk and Kan Hyo-Joo. This fantasy romance thriller series consists of 16 episodes and revolves around characters between two worlds: the real world and a parallel universe created inside a webtoon. Oh, Yeon Joo is a cardiothoracic surgeon whose father, Oh Sung Moo, is a comic book writer who suddenly goes missing while writing the last chapter of his webtoon “W.”
While looking for her father, Oh Yeon Joo visits his office when suddenly a hand appears from the monitor of his computer and pulls her inside it. She soon realizes that the man who saves her is none other than the main character of her father’s webtoon, Kang Chul. Kang Chul is a former Olympic gold medallist and a self-made millionaire. As the series progresses, these two characters start to develop romantic feelings for one another, and they must find a way to live together.
Written by Song Jae-Jung and directed by Jung Dae-Yoon, W: Two Worlds received both critical and commercial acclaim from fans and critics upon its release. It also enjoyed a modest rating throughout its entire runtime. Fans of K-dramas will attest to the statement that the motif of multiple worlds is extremely common. Therefore, if you enjoyed W: Two Worlds, then you would also really enjoy our recommendations for TV dramas that are similar to W.
1. Extraordinary You
Extraordinary You (also known as July Found by Chance or Suddenly One Day) is a South Korean television series based on the webtoon ‘July Found by Chance.’ The show follows Eun Dan-oh, a high school student at a prestigious academy who realizes that she is a side character in a comic book titled ‘Secret’ and that her entire life is controlled by the Writer.
Not only has the writer made her a side character, but he has also given her a lame storyline- she is engaged to a man who doesn’t like her very much, and she is expected to die soon from a heart condition.
After realizing this, she decides to take her fate into her own hands and change the plot of the story by looking for her true love. She soon starts to develop feelings for a nameless student, a character that has many similarities with the character from the Writer’s previous work.
Extraordinary You was a critical and commercial blockbuster that received several awards and award nominations. Kim Hye-Yoon, who plays Eun Dan-oh, won the MBC Drama Awards for Best New Actress, and the show won the Seoul Drama Awards for Outstanding Korean Drama in 2020.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 1 (32 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 7.8/10
- Cast: Kim Hye-yoon, Rowoon, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Na-eun, Jung Gun-joo, Kim Young-dae, and Lee Tae-ri
- Created By: Jim Dae-jin
- Streaming Platform: Rakuten Viki
2. Memories of the Alhambra
Memories of Alhambra is a South Korean television series set in Spain. When Yoo Jin-woo, CEO of an investment company, receives an email about an AR game focusing on the medieval battles of Alhambra, he travels to Spain to meet its creator, Jung Se-Joo.
However, Jin-woo soon realizes that Se-Joo is missing but decides to meet his older sister, Jung Hee-Joo, who is the owner and operator of the hostel he is staying at and who used to be a former guitarist.
Jin-woo and Hee-joo’s destiny becomes mysteriously entangled with one another as the border between the real world and the world created inside the videogame begins to blur.
Upon its release, Memories of the Alhambra quickly became one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history. People have praised the show for its unique and creative plot that is full of unexpected twists and turns. Park Shin-hye, who plays Jung Hee-joo, was nominated for the 12th Korea Drama Awards in the Top Excellence Award category.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes and 1 special)
- IMDb Score: 7.8/10
- Cast: Hyun Bin, Park Shin-hye, Park Chanyeoi, Kim Young-rim, Lee Re, Lee Hak-joo, Park Hoon, Lee Seung-joon, Min Jin-woong, Cho Hyun-chui, Lee Si-won, Kim Eui-sung, and Ryu Abel
- Created By: Jinnie Choi and Lee Myung-han
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
3. Fringe
Fringe is an American science fiction television series that focuses on three members of a newly formed Fringe Division in the Federal Bureau of Investigation: FBI agent, Olivia Dunham; a dysfunctional scientist Walter Bishop, and his son Peter Bishop.
The series is based in Boston, where the team investigates occurrences that are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. Fringe is often times described as a series with elements of fantasy, mythology, and a procedural legal drama.
Much like The X-Files, Fringe started off as an episodic TV show with a new mystery every week but later became more serialized in its approach. The success of the TV show has spawned a comic book series, an alternate reality game, and three novels.
Fringe received a lukewarm reception at first, but as the series continued went on to become a cult classic show that received both critical and commercial acclaim.
During its five-year run, the show was nominated for several awards, including but not limited to the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing, and Satellite Awards for Best Supporting Actor.
- Released in: 2008
- No. of seasons: 5 (100 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8.4/10
- Cast: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Kirk Acevedo, Seth Gabel, and Mark Valley
- Created By: J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci
- Streaming Platform: Prime Video
4. Signal
Signal is a South Korean fantasy television series that is inspired by the premise of the Hollywood film, Frequency and the Hwaseong serial murders, where 10 women were raped and murdered in the span of 5 years.
Unlike the other shows on this list, the premise of Signal is set in the same world but in the past and the present simultaneously. The signal follows criminal profiler Park Hae-young, who comes across a walkie-talkie in 2015 that helps him talk to Detective Lee Jae Gan in 1989.
With the help of Lee Jae Gan, Det. Cha Soo-Hyun and Park Hae-young form a cold case team that tries to solve the cases that have remained unsolved for years. However, when they help Detective Lee Jae-han solve cases, they realize that they are changing the course of history, which results in unintended consequences.
Upon its release, Signal became one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history and received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. The show won and received several award nominations during the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards, tvN10 Awards, Korea Content Awards, and Brand of the Year Awards.
- Released in: 2016
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8.5/10
- Cast: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, Cho Jin-woong, Jang Hyun-sung, Jung Hae-Kyun, Kim Won-hae, Kang Chan-hee, Yang Dae-hyuk, Oh Yeon-ah, Lee Young-eun, and Lee Si-a
- Created By: Choi Jin-hee and Park Ji-young
- Streaming Platform: Prime Video and Netflix
5. While You Were Sleeping
While You Were Sleeping is a South Korean television series that is centered around the lives of three people- a police officer, a prosecutor, and a field reporter who mysteriously acquires the ability to see the future while they dream.
This Korean drama series is a mixture of comedy, romance, legal drama, and fantasy genres. The three protagonists work together to take down a corrupt lawyer and find the reason behind their abilities whilst simultaneously using their powers to protect their loved ones from harmful situations.
- Released in: 2017
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8/3/10
- Cast: Lee Jong-suk, Bae Suzy, Lee Sang-yeob, and Jang Hae-in
- Created By: Parl Hye-Ryun
- Streaming Platform: Rakuten Viki
6. The Bride of Habaek
The Bride of Habaek, or Bride of the Water God, is a South Korean television series that is based on the 2006 comic book ‘Bride of the Water God by Yoon Mi-Kyung. This fantasy romantic drama follows neuropsychiatrist So-ah, who happens to be the only remaining descendant of a middle-class family that has been tasked with serving Ha Baek, a water god.
When Ha Baek revisits Earth to retrieve the sacred stones, he seeks So-ah’s help, but she mistakes him for being mentally ill until she meets the Land of the Sky, the goddess of the Land of Water, and a demigod. As So-ah and Ha Baek look for the sacred stones, Ha Baek starts to develop feelings for So-ah.
- Released in: 2017
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 6.9/10
- Cast: Shin Se-Kyun, Nam Joo-hyuk, Lim Ju-hwan, Krystal Jung, Gong Myung, Lee Geung-young, Kim Tae-hwan, Jung Dong-hwan, and Bae Noo-ri.
- Created By: Studio Dragon
- Streaming Platform: Netflix and Rakuten Viki
7. The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy is an American web series based on the comic book series of the same name by the lead vocalist and co-founder of the band ‘My Chemical Romance,’ Gerard Way.
The series follows the seven children adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves who are turned into a superhero team known as ‘The Umbrella Academy.’ In the first season, the estranged siblings who have all grown up are reunited after their father’s death.
However, one of their siblings, who has been missing since he was 15, returns from the future only to reveal that a global apocalypse is upon them, and they must work together to stop it.
In the next season, the siblings get stuck in the early 1960s when they realize that JFK not being assassinated in 1963 acts as a catalyst for a nuclear war. Therefore, the siblings must work together to stop this new apocalypse from happening.
In the following season, the siblings realize that their actions in the past have created a new timeline where they have been replaced by ‘The Sparrow Academy,’ and this has led to a paradox that could destroy the universe.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 3 (30 episodes)
- IMDB Score: 7.9/10
- Cast: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaneda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, Ritu Arya, Kate Walsh. And Colm Feore
- Created by Steve Blackman
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
8. Hotel del Luna
Hotel del Luna is a South Korean dark fantasy romantic comedy series that follows the owner and manager of a hotel that caters exclusively to ghosts. The setting of the series is ‘Hotel del Luna,’ a hotel that is not visible during the day and can be accessed by human beings under special circumstances only.
The staff and clients of the hotel are ghosts who have unfinished business in their former lives and must resolve them to move on to the afterlife and finish the cycle of reincarnation.
The series follows Koo Chan-sung, whose father makes a deal with the owner of the hotel to save his life in exchange for his son’s servitude to the hotel 20 years later. When Koo Chan-sung comes to fulfill his father’s agreement, he tries to investigate the mysteries behind the hotel and its owner.
Upon its release, the series became one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history and was nominated for several awards at the Korea Drama Awards, Mnet Asia Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and Seoul Music Awards.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8.1/10
- Cast: Lee Ji-eun, Yeo Jin-goo, Jung Dong-hwan, Shin Jung-geun, Bae Hae-sun, Pyo Ji-hoon, Kang Mi-na, Lee Do-hyun, and Lee Tae-sun
- Created By: Studio Dragon
- Streaming Platforms: Rakuten Viki, Netflix, and Prime Video
9. Lost Romance
Lost Romance is a Taiwanese romantic fantasy television series that focuses on Zheng Xiao En, an editor of romance novels, who is secretly in love with the CEO of a company opposite her company’s office.
One day, out of nowhere, Zheng Xiao En finds herself transported into the story of a romance novel that she is currently reading and comes face to face with her crush, He Tian Hang.
However, she soon discovers that in this fictional universe, Ha Tian Hang is known as Si Tu Ao Ran, and his personality is very different. She also learns that in this universe, instead of being the romantic lead, she is the antagonist.
The show was praised for Zheng Xiao En’s relatable and fun personality, the dual roles of He Tian Xing and Situ Ao Ran, and the chemistry between the main leads, along with a memorable soundtrack.
- Released in: 2020
- No. of seasons: 1 (20 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8.2/10
- Cast: Marcus Chang, Vivian Sung, Simon Lien
- Created By: Sanlih E-Television
- Streaming Platform: Rakuten Viki
10. Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time is an American adventure fantasy drama series that is set between two settings – a seaside town and a fantastical world where fairy tales take place. In the real world, Emma Swan and her son discover that the people of the town are fairy-tale characters. As the series progresses, we get a glimpse into the lives of the townsfolk and their fairy-tale counterparts.
The residents of the town, who were once fairy tale characters, are cursed by the Evil Queen and robbed of their memories. As the series progresses, the viewers learn the events that preceded said curse and its impact on each character’s life.
The narrative, which juxtaposes the real world alongside the fairy-tale world, is used to explore the trials and tribulations in a person’s life and how even in the darkest periods in our life, there is some hope left.
- Released in: 2011
- No. of seasons: 7 (155 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 7.7/10
- Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Josh Dallas, Jared S. Gilmore, Robert Carlyle, Raphael Sbarge, Jamie Dornan, Colin O’Donoghue, and Michael Socha
- Created By: Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz
- Streaming Platform: Disney+
11. Someday or One Day
Someday or One Day is a Taiwanese thriller drama series that follows 27-year-old Huang Yu Xuan, whose boyfriend has been missing for two years and is legally presumed dead. On her birthday, she wishes to see him and soon afterward is hit by a car.
However, when she wakes up, she learns that she is in the year 1998 and is trapped in the body of her a high school student named Chen Yan Ru. She soon realizes that the accident that led her to the hospital was not an accident after all. Throughout the series, Huang Yu Xuan tries to uncover the mystery of her boyfriend’s disappearance and why Chen Yan Ru was hospitalized in the first place.
- Released in 2019
- No. of seasons: 1
- IMDB Score: 8.6/10
- Cast: Greg Han, Ko Chia-yen, Patrick Shih, Alien Huang, Yu-Lin Yen, Joanne Tseng, Dewii Chien, Prince Chiu, Yen Yi-wen, and Chang Han
- Created by Chien Chi-Feng and Lin Hsin-Hui
- Streaming Platform- Rakuten Viki and Disney+
12. Romance Is a Bonus Book
Romance is a Bonus Book is a South Korean television series that follows Cha Eun-ho, a famous author who also works as the chief editor at a publishing company, and Kang Dan-I, a woman who saved him from an accident when they were both young children.
While they remained friends throughout their childhood, Cha Eun-ho and Kang Dan-I’s friendship fell apart after Kand Dan-I started dating an inconsiderate man whom Cha Eun-ho disapproved of.
Now an adult, Cha Eun-ho learns that Cha Eun-ho is a single mother looking for work and helps her find a job in his own company. As the story progresses, their love story begins to unfold.
- Released in: 2019
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8/10
- Cast: Lee Na-young, Lee Jong-suk, Jung Yoo-jin, Wi Ha-joon, Kim Tae-woo, Kim Yoo-mi, Jo Han-chui, and Kim Sun-young
- Created By: Studio Dragon
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
13. The King: Eternal Monarch
The King: Eternal Monarch is a South Korean television series set in two parallel worlds. The series follows Emperor Lee Gon, who discovers that his half-uncle has opened the door to an alternate reality and is planning to overthrow the emperor by assembling an army.
Lee Gon must enlist the help of Detective Jeong Tae-eul in order to stop his half-uncle. Upon its release, the series was included in the top 10 most talked about programs of 2020 based on a survey conducted by the Korea Communications Commission. It also became the most popular K-drama in Singapore, the U.S., India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
- Released in: 2020
- No. of seasons: 1 (16 episodes)
- IMDb Score: 8.1/10
- Cast: Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun, Woo Do-hwan, Kim Kyung-nam, Jung Eun Chae, and Lee Jung-jin
- Created By: Kim Eun-sook
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: 12 TV Shows Like The Days To Watch
